Thirteen and livewire!

If you are one of those parents who think you do not have to worry about your children getting into sex, drugs and dangerous games since they go to good schools, you may find Thirteen startling.

Here is a searing film about kids affected by peer pressure and dysfunctional families. It is a movie radically different from the mindless teen stuff doled out by Hollywood. And it is a film you may want to see with mature young adults. It is also a movie that warns that seemingly well-behaved and promising children could be hiding resentment and inferiority complex.

It is a compelling, terrifying story that offers intense lessons not only to teens but also to their parents and teachers. It also deals with the failure of some parents to raise their kids to be emotionally healthy adults.

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Thirteen is a small budget film with a big future. Violent, disturbing and raw though it is, it is a mature and thought-provoking work. Among other things, it offers the pleasure of seeing several young actors performing with promise. It also shows several veterans, including Holly Hunter, coming up with award-worthy performances.

Distributor Fox Searchlight had great success recently with 28 Days, a quirky, dark sci-fi film costing $7 million which grossed $45 million in North America. Then, there was the feel-good comedy, the $5 million Bend It Like Beckham, which is headed for $32 million gross. The $8 million Thirteen, the first directorial vehicle of Catherine Hardwicke, is being released amidst excellent buzz and solid reviews from major publications. It could become yet another sleeper hit and get several Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.

Nikki Reed was 13 when she co-wrote the screenplay of Thirteen, based on her own experiences, about a year ago. She also plays a plum part in the film.

Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) seems a well-adjusted teen. She is full of academic promise but she is afraid she is a geek and envies girls who are 'hot'. She is very impressed by Evie (Nikki Reed), her sultry looks and easy charms, not to forget a flashy lifestyle.

The emotionally disturbed Evie has slipped into drugs and sex. Soon, Tracy is busy trying to be 'hotter' than her idol.

Tracy's rebellion is also fuelled partly because of her dislike for her mother (Holly Hunter) and her codependent relationship with a boyfriend out of rehabilitation (Jeremy Sisto). Tracy sees him as a perpetual loser and, by extension, her mother is a loser, too.

Life for Tracy and her mother becomes even more complicated as Tracy and Evie's misadventures continue.

I came out of the film hoping that director Hardwicke will not be sucked into making big budget airy dramas, as it often happens in Hollywood. I also loved that she had not made the film a teary, preachy affair but kept it, despite a few bumps, a smooth, adult drama. And I loved the intensity in Wood, how she moves from being an apparently self-contained young woman into a wreck. Here is a live wire performance that will soon be the talk of the town, and should be remembered at the time major award nominations are made.

CREDITS
Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Holly Hunter, Nikki Reed, Brady Corbet, Jeremy Sisto
Direction: Catherine Hardwicke
Written by: Catherine Hardwicke, Nikki Reed
Rating: R for drug use, violence, language and sexuality, all involving young teens
Running time: 100 minutes.
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures